Beauty and the Beast (2017)

"Beauty in the Beast is a tale as old as time. You know, the one where a successful Disney film of the 2D animation era gets dusted off and all dressed up in CGI and celebrities and plays out to a predictable end. It looks exciting and new, and there are a few winky nods to the modern folk (Le Fou is gay!!!!!) but everything else remains entirely the same out of either laziness or a fear of redneck audiences screaming at the changing world around them."

"It's a lovingly crafted movie, and in many ways a good one, but before that it's an enraptured piece of old-is-new nostalgia."

"There’s enough darkness to give it a bit of edge, but plenty of laughs for levity, and also moments sure to elicit tears."

"Three cheers for director Bill Condon and star Emma Watson for having the courage to make a live-action adaptation with 2017 gender politics."

"Its classicism feels unforced and fresh. Its romance neither winks nor panders. It looks good, moves gracefully and leaves a clean and invigorating aftertaste. I almost didn't recognize the flavour: I think the name for it is joy."

"Doesn't completely work, but it doesn't completely not work either, if you have the sweet tooth for musicals that I do."

"This new Beast is still a tale as old as time that looks likely to stand the test of time..."

"...he [Condon] has taken a sleek and elegant 84-minute fairy tale ... and spun from it a 129-minute epic of extravagance, a gilded monument to the more-is-more principle."

"It's a Michelin-triple-starred master class in patisserie skills that transforms the cinematic equivalent of a sugar rush into a kind of crystal meth-like narcotic high that lasts about two hours."

"Those who predicted this wouldn’t hold a talking candle to the animated original will be pleasantly surprised. The tale may be as old as time, but it’s retold with freshness, brio and flair."